imbue
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
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to instil or inspire (with ideals, principles, etc)
his sermons were imbued with the spirit of the Reformation
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rare to soak, esp with moisture, dye, etc
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have imbuedperfect
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has imbuedperfect 3rd person singular
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has been imbuingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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is imbuingprogressive 3rd person singular
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have been imbuingperfect progressive
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are imbuingprogressive
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am imbuingprogressive 1st person singular
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imbuessingular 3rd person
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imbuingparticiple
Past
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had imbuedperfect
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was imbuingprogressive singular
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had been imbuingperfect progressive
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were imbuingprogressive plural
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imbuedsimple
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imbuedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of imbue
First recorded in 1545–55, imbue is from the Latin word imbuere “to wet, drench”
Explanation
To imbue is to fill up with or become "soaked" in an idea or emotion, as a sponge takes in water. One visit to a sick relative in a hospital might be enough to imbue a child with a lifelong ambition to become a doctor. You can use imbue in a similar way as "saturate," or "soak through," to describe a filling or absorbing. A "hue" is a color, and it rhymes with imbue. When you're imbued with something, you are, in a way, colored by it. If you imbue a dish sponge with oily orange water from a spaghetti bowl, the color and the oil soak in. To fill people with qualities or emotions is, for example, to imbue them with strength or optimism.
Vocabulary lists containing imbue
Grade 11, List 5
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Death of a Salesman
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The Scarlet Letter
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
While eager to imbue him with reverential status, the Party is simultaneously wary that almost any discussion of Mao's legacy could rake up uncomfortable memories.
From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026
"Artificial intelligence lacks feelings and memories; in short, it has no nafas... It can't imbue it into food."
From Barron's • Nov. 30, 2025
Although his public persona was quite vivid—convivial, erudite but unpretentious, articulate, and unfailingly charming—he did not imbue his buildings with a distinctive graphic sensibility.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 28, 2025
In recent years, however, the speakers have played pre-planned programming that ranges from outright opprobrium to more subtle messaging intended to imbue listeners with pro-South Korea sympathies.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 5, 2025
“No harm will come to it. I may be suffering from brand-fly poison, but I can still imbue a charm or two.”
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
